Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Telenovela Alborada, #24

This is a recap of the Univision telenovela Alborada. In order to read the whole post, you click "read the rest" at the bottom of this summary!

If you are new, please visit the recaps in ORDER - they are listed to the right under a picture of Doña Juana and Modesta. See the bottom of this post for more information.

Monday: Luis offers to run away with Hipólita and Rafael, it will work if you just give it a try, I want to be registered as Rafael's mother but that means adultery and jail, please don't take my child, I promise I won't, how about your mother, I won't let her, are you sure you can handle her, yes. But in exchange I want to see Rafael whenever I want, Antonio won't allow it, Rafael's my child, I have rights, ok. How are you? Good (lies). How are you? Bad (tells truth). We're desperate.

I was glad to see the little reprise of the Cinderfella ball since I missed Friday. It doesn't hold a candle to that great ball in Amor Real, goodness, how beautiful that was, and we saw it every night in the credits... Anyway, back to the Guevara estate: why are these decorative women standing on the driveway rotating ridiculous ribbons in the dark where only lackeys are watching? What a crummy gig!

Juana says yet again, this time to the Regidor: "Diego has only girls, Rafael is my only grandson." The Regidor thinks Hipólita and Antonio will go back to Panama and start making babies of their own and Hipólita won't mind losing just this one. He thinks Juana should "insist" on keeping Rafael.

Caray, caray! What do I hear? This is what you've been complaining about, isn't it, my dear friends: the whiny low-IQ singer simpering and idiotically crooning "ahh, ahh, ahh" (and actually she's only lip-synching, and very poorly) whilst waving her scarf around, and she has a tiara! Nobody's paying any attention, no matter how much she postures and preens. Another lousy gig.

The person who does music for this novela has a TIN EAR.

More pointless exposition repetitions between Isabel and the Regidor's wife, notable only because they are peeing at the same time. Not convenient, peeing in those dresses! Isabel has cute legs.

Diego badgers Antonio again. Is it true you boink Luis's prostitute, or is it true you are an afeminado? (There are many possibilities not covered by this bipartite question.) Antonio says the efeminado thing is a lie spread by Luis. Diego: women are just there to be gotten pregnant, Antonio: well whatever, but I love Hipólita. "Too bad she cuckolded you." "She did not! Luis raped her!" "Oh, yeah, the way I raped his wife Esperanza. I guess I avenged you." (Giggles and sneezes.)

If you ask me, Diego is awfully interested in fun with boys. Surely he indulges with his staff from time to time?

Ooh, the awful singer got some applause.

Francisco asks Isabel: "Who is this Poderosa, she's offering my son Andres a whopping dowry to marry your protege Marina; I should take care of this personally."

Victoria and Sara are fretting about Gasca ferreting out their secret. Victoria: "I have to kill him." "Maybe we can rat him out to the authorities." "No way, we have no proof." "OK do what you want, but remember, if you kill him you'll be marked forever." "I'm marked already. Tomorrow I'll see my daughter." Sara says Marina is probably embarrassed and it would be better to lie low for a while. "Why did life treat us like this?" "It wasn't life, it was Juana denouncing my family, if I had been able to raise you on my parents' farm, your life would have been so much different..." "... and the life of my poor daughter."

Antonio, in his grand salmon outfit, is leaving for the Vanilla Plantation with Andrés. He reminds Hipólita that Luis is forbidden to come to the house, she says "No, he gets to see his son, he's part of our lives, at least of mine." "Have you slept with him again?" She wiggles out of the question.

He leaves, she tells Ada about his ultimatum, Ada says I told you so, Hipólita says she wants to tell Antonio she's had sex with Luis, Ada says don't. "I'm tired of lying, and anyway he won't dump me because he's got skeletons in his own closet."

On the subject of the irascible and obstinate Antonio, Isabel queries rhetorically: "Why did this monigote have to show up?"

Luis won't let Isabel sign the palace over to Rafael. He wants her to stop talking about it, says she's healthy as a horse and will live forever anyway. After he leaves Isabel tells Aurelio to put the place in Luis's name. (One of our fans has pointed out that if Luis is really Diego, maybe this will mean the castle would revert to Diego if he were really Luis!)

Marina is indeed embarrassed to hear Victoria has dangled a delicious dowry in front of Andrés in hopes of getting him to propose to Marina. "Ever since Diego [raped me], Andrés has changed, he isn't interested, I am sure he despises me." Victoria says: "It's not your fault. Just tell me if you love him." "Yes, I do." "Then I'll go talk to him."

Juana asks Diego which of the prospective brides he liked. "Not a one of them." "Well, there aren't any more candidates." "Then I'll take the fat one. She's not as old as the others and she has twin sons." Juana says she'll make the arrangements. "Make sure the documents ensure her twins get nothing." Diego tells his mother he's sure Antonio would like to be rid of Rafael.

Felipe's wife Carmela frets about Marcos, away on his trip to find Modesta's relatives; the world is a dangerous place, especially if you're in the Guevara orbit. Since her father worked for Juana's dead spouse, Felipe asks whether he'd ever told her what they were like. "Well... Juana was bossy, the husband was prudent." "Did your dad ever mention Sara de Oviedo?" "Yes, she was a Jew, her people had lots of money, she was a dear friend of Aurora (wife of Don Carlos, previous Count of Guevara - and Luis's real mother). She died with them in the fire." "Who told him so?" "Juana did, when she fired him, right after Don Carlos died." "Not after her husband died?" "No, after Don Carlos died." This is obviously a clue but I don't get it. "Why did Juana fire your dad?" "Who knows? at first she assured him he could keep his post, but then she changed her mind." Another clue.

Esperanza looks absolutely ghastly! Chalk one up to the makeup guy. Burning up with fever, she nevertheless insists on getting dressed. She's carried to the carriage and she and Mirtha drive to the capital to see the Archbishop, Fray Alvaro! Magnificent scenes! She waits at the verge of death on one of his benches till Alvaro's available and is then carried into his chambers (all this carrying being done by the handsome and stalwart Vicente).

She has an audience with the archbishop. "I hear you lost your baby." "Yes, it was a punishment from God. I lied - I never saw the Virgin!" (Alvaro: "You know what you're saying? Sacrilege!") She's on a roll. "I also lied about the baby being Luis's - it was Diego's baby. Diego raped and impregnated me." (Alvaro, shaking hands towards heaven, "Dear God, How Is This Possible?") She babbles on but Alvaro hears nothing further. His hard drive has crashed due to excessive information. Esperanza faints.

Back at the estate, Luis greets Santiago (worst hair in the whole show) and his wife, who have come to visit Esperanza (Santiago's sister). When they're told Esperanza's gone out, Santiago and Luis set out to find her.

Hipólita and Ada and the potato-sack Rafael are watching scary marionettes in the city plaza. Hipólita: "Luis is my rock, my comfort." Ada: "You're just saying that cause you're in love." Luis and Santiago, blasting past in search of Esperanza, stop for a moment. Rafael runs into Luis's arms. Luis tells Hipólita he needs to see her that very night.

Luis and Santiago find Esperanza in her feverish faint in Alvaro's office. Alvaro won't let her go home because she's to be charged with sacrilege. Luis says it doesn't count cause she wasn't right in the head. Alvaro: "BUT SHE ALSO BOINKED YOUR COUSIN!"

Luis is stunned. He inflates and hyperventilates. Now HIS hard drive has frozen up. Then he dashes dashingly off on his horse. Alvaro's parting words: "You lied too when you said you slept with her!"

At the estate, Gasco hovers menacingly while Juana chats with Diego, arranging for Eloise's entry into the family. Luis bursts in, bursting with rage! A very satisfying fight ensues: kicking, punching, skull cracking. Juana prevents Luis from choking Diego to death and then prevents Gasca from stabbing Luis to death. Good work, Juana! As Luis punches Diego he shouts: "Esperanza has just told everything to Alvaro!" Juana sobs: "She's lying!" Luis says: "Stop Defending This Dog! [Diego.]"

Didn't Luis look lovely, all mussed up like that? Snaps to his hairdressers.

Juana: "Luis, if you want to kill Diego, you'll have to kill me first." Luis: "OK mother - or, should I be calling you mother at all?"

Diego moans and is carried away. Luis tells Juana that Esperanza is being detained by the Archbishop for sacrilege and adultery. Juana: "We can't allow that! Modesta, we're off! Get my things. We'll tell Alvaro Esperanza is demented, it's the only salvation."

Diego looks really swollen and banged-up, isn't it wonderful? "Gasca, I just want you to kill him."

Modesta: "The midwife would attest that Esperanza is crazy." Juana: "Yes! Bring her to the archbishop!"

Catalina kvells over her husband Cristobal, the best man in the world. "We still haven't lived together as man and woman but I think it will be soon."

Asuncion is opposed to Marina as a daughter-in-law because she's no virgin. She primly tells Catalina: "Your father won't approve. And anyway, what decent woman lets people call her La Poderosa?" "What's important is that they love each other."

Arrival of a toadie with the sensational Esperanza gossip (sEg) brings them all to their feet.

Catalina points out the depravity of the aristocrats whose favor her craven mother curries. She says if it hadn't been for Luis and Cristóbal her brother Andrés would have gone to jail and maybe been executed.

Francisco isn't so glad to hear about all this - it's the end of his blackmail scheme. Though he does indulge in schadenfreude.

Cristóbal, inspecting Esperanza: "She's very weak. The dry fever is the bad kind." Santiago (he's cute, I wouldn't have minded seing more of him through the weeks) says: "Don't give up, Esperanza."

In the group audience with the archbishop, Juana - wearing a tiara to remind Alvaro of her power etc. I suppose - is desperately spinning lies without really convincing anybody. Alvaro says he must talk with Diego.

Cristobal suggests to Alvaro that Esperanza be carried to the convent where his sister is abbess. "If she survives, you can bring her to trial later; if she doesn't survive, at least she'll end her days decorously."

Tuesday: Tonight everybody had to chew endlessly over the sEg (sensational Esperanza gossip).

Sara asks Victoria: "Why do you insist on Andrés marrying Marina if he doesn't want her?" "Because she wants him." "Forced marriages are torture for the woman." "But if the woman has a lot of money ... anyway, he can be talked around. And if not, I'll find her another one." "Men don't care whose fault it is, the woman has to be a virgin, he has to be first." "I'm going to try anyway, I've sent a note to his father."

Asuncion is fussing away re: the sEg. Francisco: "I hope Luis kills Diego, he deserves it." Then she lays out her reasons for rejecting Andrés's suitor: "This Marina is pretty but she's just a ward." Francisco counters: "Your daughter Hipólita is illegitimate." "But Marina had SEX with Diego." "But your daughter had SEX with Luis." "I don't get it! You're usually so strict!?" "If the Count, Luis and Juana can all behave so badly, why should I be a puritan, especially when there's money involved?" Francisco gets Victoria's note and announces he'll be going out tonight...

On the way to the vanilla plantation, Andrés seeks counsel from Antonio as he has nobody else to talk to. He loves Marina, she loves him, but from the first she'd warned him she'd been raised to be the protected lover of a rich man. (Rest stop at a roadside stand where quesadillas and pig's blood are sold.)

Antonio takes Marina's side, saying she really could not have held out against Diego. "It's normal that an orphan without family or money would feel helpless before the Count. You were imagining the luxuries, but you better get a grip and consider her desperation, her terror. She was a lamb in front of a tiger." Andrés gets his stupid look. Wake up, boy.

Esperanza is carried to the abbey. The abbess doesn't want to allow visits from Santiago but Cristobal says have some Christian charity.

Luis stares, rapt, at a candle. (Clue!)

Diego shouts and whines and says Luis has to pay for what he did. Juana: "No way, you got what you deserved, and by the way Alvaro wants to see you." "Alvaro believed Esperanza?" "We hope not - we all lied for you - but this is the last time. I'm not going to intercede for you again."

Francisco goes to La Poderosa. I never noticed the menorah before. Victoria, dressed very nicely, tells story #1 (that she got the care of Marina from a dead mother who wanted her daughter well married.) Cutting immediately to the chase, Francisco says: "Andres is my only son, I want him to marry well. How much money are we talking about?" "Money and properties." "Properties, oh, maybe a hacienda?"

Francisco then goes to find Andrés at Antonio's house. He takes one of Antonio's cigars. Hipólita says Andrés is off on the vanilla plantation expedition. Blah blah blah. Francisco, hearing that Esperanza has gone to the convent, says truth: "When the poor sin, they go to jail. When the rich sin, they go to convents and have dozens of servants. That's why money is necessary." He continues: "Is your husband rich? I hope he hits you once in a while. Tell Andres to come see me."

For a little relief, we watch Catalina decorating the patio while Cristóbal beams at her.

Isabel thinks Luis should kill Diego, or ... "I know! I'll run him off the place, I'd love to!" "I beg you not to, it's such a scandal." She unnecessarily tells Luis that her ward Marina is not a nobody, she's the daughter of Victoria and grand-daughter of Sara. Luis is completely uninterested. After he leaves Marina worries, remembering her mother didn't want her real name getting around.

Santiago and his wife worry. The abbess squeezes the truth out of Mirtha by threatening her soul. Love potions, blah blah blah.

Diego tells Gasca: "I really, really want Luis dead." Gasca points out it would be awfully obvious just now. "I order it - kill him or you're fired." "Consider it done."

Juana is sitting at her spinning wheel but not making much progress. The Guevaras are not known for textile prowess. Modesta worries away at Luis's comment, to wit: "Should I really be calling you Mother?" Juana says, "He can't know! only Agustín knew and he, fortunately, is dead." Modesta remembers: Sara knew that the true little count had a burned leg. (Clue!) Is it possible Sara told Isabel?

Catalina is sad for Esperanza and insists that Cristóbal throw his weight into improving her situation. He likes that. They embrace and get lovey but I guess no sex again tonight.

Luis visits Felipe and Carmen. They remark: you certainly are under a lot of stress! "My mother - Felipe, the other day you said I'd be better off if I weren't her son - was that because she doesn't like me, or because she prefers Diego?" "More. We think maybe the inheritance of Juana's husband's property might have been the motive for substituting her real baby for you." Helpful deep background: "After her husband's death, Juana fired all her servants and left Valverde, as if she wanted to leave anybody who knew her recently born son. What if her own son had died, and she scraped you up as a replacement?"

Later, Luis moans to Felipe: "Then Isabel isn't my aunt, I have no family, I have nothing." "You're a man, and it's not a name or a title that makes a man."

Re: sEg -- Antonio casually tells Hipólita he's known for ages that Diego did the deed. She's scandalized that he told nobody, but he asks why would he want to help out that jerk Luis? Antonio asks again: "Are you sleeping with him or not?" "When I came to this country hurt and alone, two people held out a helping hand - Martin, who died defending me, and Luis..." she recounts Luis's good deeds. Antonio gets angry and they run through their usual fights, somewhat escalated when she admits her affection for Luis and Antonio calls her a "cualquiera." "I am not, and besides, Luis is father of my son. And besides, that's your fault." Antonio storms out and goes to Perla's house where they have lots of sex. That makes me happy because I don't have to write anything.

While Hipólita awaits Luis's promised visit, Ada is fussing that Hipólita revealed so much to Antonio. When Luis arrives, Ada lies to him, saying his visit is not wanted and that Hipólita is talking with her husband! Luis says he'll be back the next night. Hipolita is upset... Later she asks Antonio if he wants her to leave him. "And have you go right off to Luis's arms? No way. I want a normal life with you, wouldn't you like that?" She nods unconvincingly.

Gasco discusses Luis's murder with Ramon and Arcadio. Luis is never alone, he'll have to be killed in his bed. They say no, it's too dangerous, and they're in so deep with La Poderosa, and why, Gasca, are you interested? Gasca explains that Victoria killed her husband fifteen years ago (actually Gasca himself did the deed) and she's still wanted, in fact there's quite a price on her head, and the three of them can collect it.

Marcos returns from his trip - he has proof that Modesta was in Valverde with Rafael!

I post the new update every Wednesday and Saturday morning. All Alborada recaps are now listed in the sidebar to the right - below the small picture of Modesta and Doña Juana, just above the elephant. Click on the numbers (ONE TWO THREE ... ETC) to find them!

23 Comments:

Melinama: I think the clue (a rather minor one) about when Carmela's father was fired is that it was after the fire on the chalana, not after Juana's husband died. In other words, it would have been logical to fire her husband's servant after her husband died but Juana told him his job was safe. After the fire, though, he gets the boot along with everyone else at Valverde who might have noticed that the babies were switched.It's sort of funny about Luis and fire. I mean in a period without electricity, he's been around fire - torches, candles, etc. his whole life and NOW he starts becoming mesmerized by candles? Recovered memories, maybe.

Anonymous: Most of what you are asking can be found in previous summaries and comments but here you go:

-What is this word "chalana"? I've looked in two dictionaries and can't find it.-Just how old were Luis and Diego suppose to be when they were exchanged? If Luis is remembering something, this would suggest he'd have been more than an infant.- And what is this about another fire- at the chalana? The only other fire I know of is Sara's parents during the Inquisition. - Do we know what happened to Juana's husband? I'm not aware of any scandal involving his death.

Chalana isn't a very common word, that is true. An online dictionary says that it is, 'a small flat bottomed boat used for shallow water.'

This is what I understand happened: Count Carlos, his wife Aurora, their infant son who became our Luis and Sara de Oviedo were on the lake near Valverde in a boat celebrating Luis' baptism with fireworks. Juana (and presumably her infant son, who became our Diego) were not on the boat as her husband had just died. We have not had any suggestion that the death of Juana's husband was due to anything other than natural causes.The chalana catches fire. Carlos and Aurora die. Sara is badly burned. A servant (now an old geezer who lives near the abandoned Valverde estate) takes baby Luis from Carlos as the chalana is burning and brings him to the lakeshore. One of his Luis' legs got burned in the fire. With everybody who could tell whose baby was whose dead, Juana did the switch.

I think the children were infants and that Luis is remembering the event for dramatic purposes.

-And last but not least, do we know why Victoria's husband was killed. We know Gasca did it, that she ws blamed, but why?

About all we know about the murder of Victoria's husband is from a flashback that Gasca had earlier:

Gasca has a flashback. Somebody (his father?) says to a young Gasca, 'Do you know who you killed? It was the brother of the Chief Inquisitor.'Gasca says 'How was I supposed to know that? He lived in a crummy house.'The other guy says,'He married Victoria, the daughter of Sara, the Jew.

So Gasca didn't know who the victim was. Why did he kill him? Who knows. How did Victoria get blamed? Who knows unless it was because she is a Jew. Why did Gasca take Marina? We don't know that either.

Thanks for the information. I missed about the first week of "Alborada" and assumed I'd been filled-in on the storyline by this time. I had assumed the late Count and Countess died in a house fire. Maybe I do need to go back and read Melinana's first posts.

First Luis's has had his fascination with fire his whole life, Cristobal has commented that he's had it since they were kids. So it's not just something that has come up recently. When Luis and Hipolita were at Val Verde talking by the lake, Luis said that many people were killed and that it was a religious festival that took place on the chalana on the lake. A Chalana is auctually a barge or a flat boat.Luis also comments that he wasn't born yet and that his mother wasn't at the festival because she was back at the farm still in mounrning for his father who died 5 months earlier. I also recall Juana saying that her husband left her pregnant. So she was at least 5 months pregnant at the time of the fire that was on the chalana.With everything I've put together from the bits and pieces that have been said I believe that she switched the children when they were babies. Juana comments early on that she took the baby from the "cuna" which is a crib and then put Diego in the palace. There is only 2 months difference in age between Diego and Luis, the child of Don Carlos and Aurora was 5 months old and just a couple months after their death Juana gave birth and that was when she made the switch. Juana is behind the deaths of Sara's family she turned Sara's family into the inquistion for some religious practice, something against the Catholic way's, and as for Victoria's husband, I'm not sure we know the answer to that yet. Hope that helped.Lesa

Juana's baby was born very soon after Aurora's. This was made clear in Friday's episode, when Isabel and Felipe visit Sara with Marina:"Sara wants to know what Felipe and Isabel suspect. Felipe says that they think Juana isn't Luis' mother. "Impossible," says Sara. "I was there at Valverde when she gave birth just three weeks after Diego was born.""

Tonight, Juana had a vase of modern long-stemmed roses on her table. Roses of that kind that won't be hybridized for nearly 100 years.

Another idea came to me, regarding the switched babies. Was Diego baptized "Luis" soon after his birth but before the switch? It's hard to pass an older baby off as a newborn, although I imagine it gets easier as they get a little older. Anyway, if Diego hasn't been baptized, then he'd probably be in trouble with the Church (and the Inquisition!) for having particated in religious ceremonies (taking the sacrament) as though he had been. Susan T.

I went back over some past episodes and I've made a few mistakes...Sorry. Sara was speaking to Felipe, when he,Isabel and Marina went to visit.She did say "tre semanas Uno de la otro" which is three weeks one to the other. Sara also told Felipe that Diego was the elder of the two children. None of what Sara said makes sense, the only thing that occurs to me is that Luis was lied to about his birth. It anyone can remember any episodes where they talk about the births of Diego and Luis let me know...email me at RinkRat@prodigy.net or leave a blog message and I'll go back and check to see if I can get more information. Lesa

Forget who gets the palace, the big problem is that Rafael Luis Manrique y Arellano is registered as the Son of Luis, but in reality is registered as that horrible Diego's son.

There are several interesting issues. When Isabel says that Juana is not as bad as she sounds, she is telling the truth, if Juana had been a horrible person she would have killed Hipolita's father, instead of allowing him to black mail her for so many years, the same with Francisco.

I believe that she did not turn Sara's family to the inquisition, but she told her so to scare her and make her to go away. She is just super controlling and spoil, and likes to get her way, but Modesta is extremely powerful. She has a great influence on Juana. We are going to miss Juana, when she dies of a heart attack or the horrible cancer that she has.

You answered your own question, only you don't know it because the names confuse the issue.Think about it:Sara said that Diego was the elder (Sara doesn't know the children were switched, so Diego "Luis" was born first)Juana gave birth to Luis "Diego" three weeks later. In ( " " 's)are the names being used today. Sara knows Diego (we now know him as Luis) burned his leg.

Thanks for clearing up the confusion, Rosa. I think the easiest way to refer to the children is by the mother: Juana's child and Aurora's child. We know who they are now whatever they are being called.

I want to thank you and all of the guest bloggers for all of the hard work in your recaps. My husband (who is learning spanish) and I (who knows almost no spanish) are now hooked on this show. We are so grateful that we found your recaps so now we know who is who and what is going on. We were REALLY wrong about some of the storylines. We look forward to reading more. Again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Here in Ontario Canada, Alborada is into week 6 on TLN (Tele Latino Network) Like all the rest of you, my Spanish teacher suggested we watch to improve our listening skill. There are no English subtitles.

I am very happy to have found this site. Knowing what is going on makes comprehending what I am hearing go more smoothly. Thanks to you for the recaps.

Re: some odd words; have you tried the website Altvista Babblefish? I use it as a quickie dictionary when I am having trouble finding a word in my regular dictionary.

The thing that gripes me about Alborada is the cheesy costuming. The styles are spread from the late 1700's to the 1850's, (Hipolita on the horse kissing Luis in the opening credits) the dresses have zippers, and the poor girls are trying to negotiate cobbled streets in 1960's spiked heels. The costumer should be fired.

The if that wasn't enough, Marcos enters Perla's dark house with her and lights a candle with a CIGARETTE LIGHTER on a plastic coil keychain! Souvenir of Mexico??? Also, Luis has a static electic generator in his "lab". Good grief; did Faraday know of this discovery???

Other than the glaring anomalies, I am enjoying the series, and I love your tongue-in-cheek recaps.

Shirley, I agree about the costumes! I complained about this early on (I also feel Hipólita's clothing fits her very poorly and is cut down so low it droops on her body) - also felt the fabrics for many of the costumes were cheap - I also didn't like the anachronistic variety - it made me think they had raided the costume closets of many previous shows, not all of the same period - but others shouted me down! So now I keep such thoughts to myself! (except for right this minute...)

I agree with Shirley to a large extent. (Hipólita's outfit when she is on the horse in the credits is way wrong. Maybe they didn't know what an early 19th century riding habit looked like.) I missed the cigarette lighter but I've seen the spike heels. I read on a website that 200 dresses were made for Hipólita for the production. Maybe they should have made 20 good quality ones. It would be more consistent with the period when people didn't have closets full of clothes. On the other hand, being a stickler for complete accuracy would probably mean no period novelas since the cost would be astronomical. They have tried to bring some historical accuracy to the production and that makes it more interesting to watch. If they don't succeed all the time, well, this is a telenovela, not Masterpiece Theater.

About those costumes, for a telenovela obsessed with urination, how do those guys get by with those weird pants with button flys on each side. Thank God the costumers spared us the awful cod pieces men wore back then.

And thank God Luis's unfaithful wife died in the convent, thus sparing us another awful auto de fe.

I love you guys for your historical knowledge; maybe I'm too laissez-faire about the whole thing. Not to be the bad guy here, but... I’ll agree that the costuming (so to speak) is cheesy (especially the wigs), the props are cheesy and the acting is cheesy. But we're talking about a telenovela! The fact that it's all somewhat (ok, very) unbelievable is what makes it GREAT! LOL! Although I admit the discussion that comes up here from time to time on what types of outfits were actually worn at the time is interesting to me… it’s something I’ve never really thought about. After the first time this subject was brought up I mistakenly said something to my mother-in-law about how the costumes aren’t exactly correct for the time the novela takes place in. Boy I got an earful about how beautiful they are and people did too wear those outfits, etc… lol.

Ok..I went back and watched the episode of Alborada where Luis and Hipolita have the conversation about the fire that killed Don Carlos and Aurora.They are at the lake, near Valverde and he tells her about the fire being a religious festival that was on the chalana and some candles got out of control and lots of people died. Hipolita asks him were YOU and your mother on the chalana, he say's "no quedamos en la finca estamos en luto, me padre tiene muy poco tiempo de fallecer" Hipolito asks "lo conocio" and Luis say's "no, sucede dos meses antes que yo naci". Hipolita then comments that it must of been very sad for his mother to lose both her husband and her brother in such a short time. Now did Luis not just say that he and his mother were at the farm in mourning for his father and that his father didn't know him because he died 2 months before he was born?? Or am I translating wrong?Any help out there.Lesa

Lesa: You're not translating wrong, your mixing the babies again. ;-) Juana's baby was born 2 months after his father died. That's our Diego, of course. We know that Aurora's baby, that's our Luis, was on the chalana. Once Juana made the switch, all of Juana's baby's story became our Luis' story so of course he would say that he was at the finca because his father had died, etc. But we know that wasn't true. That baby at the finca was really our Diego. Clear?

Ruth: It is easy to nitpick but really the producers of the novela have done a tremendous job in trying to make the historical scene convincing. It would be so much less interesting if it were just a novela in dress up. Real historical accuracy for a large cast like this would be fantastically expensive. Even major motion pictures mess up if you are familiar with the period. I am a reenactor of the 18th century, the period just before this and I know a bit about the costumes, etc. in this time. It's part of the fun to spot the boo boos. I'm guessing things might be more sloppy the further on we get. I read that the editing of the finale of the novela was only finished a half hour before it was aired. Got to go to bed. I'm off to a workshop on making 18th century gowns tomorrow.

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I'm an eccentric musician living in the woods with Hector and Jethro the donkeys, a bunch of chickens, and my son Ezra. I have a a world music klezmer cabaret band
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wedding ensembles. Find me on Google+! I often wonder if I was supposed to have lived some different life. I live in the woods and study Spanish, Yiddish, and painting.